ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Xavier Smith tallied 29 points but Central Washington men's basketball fell to Saint Martin's University, 94-83.
The Wildcats (11-5, 5-3 GNAC) shot over 50 percent on the night. Smith finished shooting 12-for-17 from the field, 3-for-5 from deep, and 2-for-2 at the free throw line. He added six rebounds, including three offensive rebounds, a block, an assist, and a steal.
Matt Poquette (13) and
Marqus Gilson (10) also totaled double digit scoring efforts. Gilson led the 'Cats with eight rebounds. The rebounding battle finished dead even at 31 boards per team. Central claimed an 8-6 advantage. The Crimson and Black's reserves tallied 20 points.
Micah Pollard and
Amari Stafford both scored seven, while
Isaiah Banks added six.
Kyle Greeley led Saint Martin's (14-4, 7-2 GNAC) with 24 points. He finished 10-for-13 from the field. The Saints posted a shooting percentage of 60.3 and were 7-for-10 from beyond the arc. They scored 52 points in the paint.
"I thought they [Saint Martin's] played well," CWU Head Coach
Brandon Rinta said afterward. "Defensively we weren't where we needed to be and they made us pay for that all night."
Central fell behind early, trailing 12-5 after the first four minutes of play. A brief 6-2 run cut the into the Saints' lead a few minutes later, bringing CWU's deficit to 16-11. A three from
Colby Gennett with under nine minutes on the clock levelled the score at 25-25.
The Crimson and Black took their first lead of the game, 34-32, with a dunk from Poquette as part of an 11-0 CWU run.
Saint Martin's responded by converting their next three baskets, cutting the Crimson and Black's lead to 41-38. A free throw and layup brought the contest even with 24 seconds on the lock, before Smith drained a shot from deep, giving the 'Cats a 44-41 lead heading into the locker room.
"He [Xavier] was in a good rhythm and carried us offensively tonight," Rinta said. "Matt helped us as well and Marcus helped us in the second half. Xavier is definitely in a good rhythm and he's been finishing well, getting to his spots; he's put in a ton of work and it's good to see."
Central held a slim lead until four consecutive points from Greeley pushed Saint Martin's back ahead, 55-52, for the final lead change of the game.
The Wildcats stayed within four until 11:27 remained in regulation. Four consecutive buckets from Saint Martin's turned a 61-60 lead into a 69-60 advantage. Smith and Poquette notched back-to-back baskets, but a pair of treys for Saint Martin's pushed the gap to nine. Saint Martin's reached its first double digit lead with 4:41 on the clock, 78-68. Central cut their deficit to single digits a trio of times in the final five minutes, but it was not enough to overcome the Saints.
After going 5-for-9 from three-point range in the first half, the Crimson and Black shot just 1-for-10 from deep in the second half. Their shooting percentage overall, however, for the second half was nearly five percentage point higher in the second stanza at 53.13 percent.
"As a team we need to better defensively," Rinta noted. "That's the key right there."
Central Washington hosts Northwest Nazarene University on Thursday (Feb. 1) at 6:00 p.m. in Nicholson Pavilion.
